Help! Iridescent green feathers on my black silkie - does this mean she's a rooster?!

[tcfoster]

Hi everyone, I would love some help with this even though I'm terrified of what the answer might be. I have 3 10-week old black silkies. 'Sofia' is the largest and has longer foot feathers than the other 2. She also has a few iridescent green feathers on her back. I am praying she isn't a rooster because we have close neighbors and we just couldn't keep a roo. Plus we have already fallen in love with her so much. Has anyone ever had a hen with this coloring? I have been avoiding posting this because I am scared of the answer! In the first photo below she is the one on the left and then the one in front in the bottom photo. Any feedback would be much appreciated!

 

[ThatsneakyHen]

Wow, we have a black silkie named fabrizeo (from the strokes) and she (or he) is the cutest. Living off hope it's a girl! Join us on the " Welcome to the backyard chat" thread

 

[ThatsneakyHen]

Also we have a female with a few green feathers but an egg layer. Just to keep you hope- 1 in a 1,000,000 chickens can be transgenders- one day she'll be crowing and the next day she'll be laying some eggs

 

[tcfoster]

I don't know if you want to go this route, but if they start crowing louder/more frequently, you could try no-crow collars. Let's hope everything stays fine!

We actually got a no crow collar for the alpha roo just in case he gets louder! We have only put it on super loose right now, just so he can get used to it, but he doesn't even notice it after a few minutes.

 

[keesmom]

Silkies are notoriously difficult to sex, but with that comb I think potential cockerel.

 

[MROO]

If it helps any, we were in the same boat with a Silkie. Irma turned out to be a Herman - but he has such a low voice (I swear he's a baritone!) that his crow is not very obtrusive, at all.

 

[tcfoster]

Silkies are notoriously difficult to sex, but with that comb I think potential cockerel.

Thank you for the feedback. I will still be hoping that she's not a he!

 

[tcfoster]

If it helps any, we were in the same boat with a Silkie. Irma turned out to be a Herman - but he has such a low voice (I swear he's a baritone!) that his crow is not very obtrusive, at all.

Well that's really good that he's not too loud. If that turns out to be the case I would just have to convince my husband that we can keep him

 

[tcfoster]

Not only did Sofia turn out to be a rooster, so did Violet! So now we have 'Brofia' and 'Guylet'! I can't bring myself to rehome them, they are just too sweet. So far our neighbors have all been fine with their crowing, but they are only about 5 months old so it's not too bad. Not sure what I will do if they start getting aggressive or louder but we love them and their cute little rooster antics.

 

[L1sa]

Not only did Sofia turn out to be a rooster, so did Violet! So now we have 'Brofia' and 'Guylet'! I can't bring myself to rehome them, they are just too sweet. So far our neighbors have all been fine with their crowing, but they are only about 5 months old so it's not too bad. Not sure what I will do if they start getting aggressive or louder but we love them and their cute little rooster antics.

Wow, both of them!! They may not change character at all, never can tell with roosters.

My Roo that one of my broody mummas hatched out, stayed really sweet natured with me, never got aggressive with me. However he tore shreds out of my hens, and they were a fair bit older than him. The poor things were almost bald by the time we decided he needed to go! It was a really tough decision to make, but I felt that the girls had earned a peaceful retirement!!